Article holding apparatus



April 1949- H. P. WESTER 2,467,103

ARTICLE HOLDING APPARATUS Filed March 1a, 1948 2 Shets-Sheet 1 h as I 1 8 I llvyc/vroR HQRWESTER ATTORNEY April 12, 1949. H. WESTER ARTICLE HOLDING APPARATUS Filed March 16, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR H. R WES TE R EV WM v A T'TO NEY Patented Apr. 12, 1949 ARTICLE HOLDING APPARATUS Henry P. Wester, Chatham, N. 1., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 16, 1948, Serial No. 15,102

(Cl. 1l3-l03) Ciairns.

This invention relates to article holding apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together by soldering.

In the communication arts, numerous electrical units are housed in metal containers of various sizes and contours depending upon the size and contour of the electrical units. Certain of the containers are constructed of parts blanked and formed from sheet metal and subsequently soldered together in :assembly. Although the parts for the containers maybe accurately formed in a blanking and forming machine, the flexible nature of the parts presents a difficult problem of holding the parts accurately while they are secured together by suitable means, such as solder.

An object of the invention is to provide an article holding apparatus which is simple in structure and highly-eflicient in readily receiving and accurately holding parts of an article for assembly.

With thisandother objects in view, the invention comprises an apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open endwith an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second partis formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end. The apparatus comprises a body with spaced elements receivable in the apertures of the side cover plate, is mounted loosely upon arodrecip- .Eig. 11,15 a verticalsectionalview of the apparatus illustrating the parts of an article in position to be secured together;

Fig, .2 is a vertical sectional view'takensubstantiallyalong the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the apparatus as shown in Fig. 1 with portions of the article and the handle broken away;

Fig.4 is an enlarged detailed view of one of the iocking elements;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of a completed article, the parts of which have been secured together by the aid of the apparatus.

Referring now to the drawings, attention is first directed to Fig. 6 which illustrates an article indicated generally at I!) composed of a main member l i and a cover plate !2. The main memher I! may be described as the first part and is substantially Ushaped in general contour with open ends, one of which is provided with inwardly bent flanges It to be secured subsequently to the cover plate or second part [2 by suitable means such as solder H5. The sides of the main member I! have integral flanges H with apertures I8 at spaced positions therein. It will be apparent that the part ll of the article, formed of relatively thin sheet metal, may be bent slightly out of position during handling, and as a result thereof, it would not be possible to accurately secure the parts together to complete an article of a given contour without suitable means to hold the part I l with its portions accurately positioned with respect to each other and at the same time locating the cover plate or part I2 relative to the flanges M.

The apparatus for holding the parts II and I2 of the article ID includes a body member supported by legs 2! and carrying a handle 22 ex-' tending substantially parallel with the legs. Locking elements 26 in the form of pins :are fixedly-mounted in apertures 25 of the body memher All at positions corresponding to the positions of the apertures IS in the flanges IT. The outwardly projecting portions of the locking elements 2% include conical ends 26 to facilitate positioning the part H of the article in place-on the body member 20 with the locking elements 24 extending through the apertures l8 and the leading surfaces of the flanges ll engaging the locating face or surface 28 of the body member 20. The locking elements are also provided with recesses 3d, the bottom surfaces 3| of which-are arcuate to partially conform to the apertures 18 as illustrated in Fig. 2. The recesses 30 are wider than the thickness of the material of the flanges l l, the outer surfaces of the recesses being spaced from the surface 28 of the body member, a distance which is slightly greater than the thickness of the flanges I! to permit the flanges to be interlocked therewith but to assure accurate positioning of the part I I on the apparatus.

The body member 263 has parallel portions 33 and 34 integral therewith and provided. with aligned apertures 35 and 36 to receive a supporting rod 31 for reciprocation therein. A table 38 is disposed upon the upper end of the rod 31 and held against displacement thereon by means of a screw 39. The aperture All in the table 38 for the screw 39 is sufiiciently large to enable the table to move within given limits relative to the rod 3? whereby it may seek the plane of the part l2 and force it into intimate engagement with all of the flanges it of the part H. The table 38 is rectangular in general contour and substantially the size of the part i2, the inner portion 4| of the table being reduced in thickness whereby the portions of the part l2- adjacent the flanges M will be engaged by the table to move them into intimate engagement with the flanges. A tongue 53 integral with the table 38 is positioned to ride in a vertical groove M of the body member 20 to hold the table against rotation during its reciprocable movement.

A collar d disposed concentric with and fixedly mounted on the rod 3! is engaged by the upper end of a spring 48, the lower end of the spring resting on the portion 34. The spring at normally urges the rod 37 upwardly and supplies the force necessary to hold the part it in position for assembly with the part ii. The portion 3 1 has downwardly extending parallel members. 43 between which the inner end of a lever is positioned and pivotally supported at 5i. A pin 52,

carried by a bifurcated lower end 523 of the rod J 31, extends through an elongate aperture in the lever 59. The outer end of the lever extends beneath the handle 22 and by gripping both the handle and the lever the operator may readil actuate the lever about its pivot iii to move the rod 3'5 downwardly with the table 38 against the force of the spring 46.

Upon considering the operation of the apparatus for assembling the parts H and of the article ill, the part i2 is first placed upon the table 38, after which the operator grips the handle 22 and the lever 56 with one hand, actuating the lever against the force of the spring it to move the table downwardly a given distance. The part i i, held by the other hand of the operator, is moved toward the apparatus in such a manner that the flanges it will extend above the part 12 on the table 38 and the apertures 58 will register with and receive the locking elements 25 as the part H is moved toward the surface 2-3 of the body member 23. When the flanges ll engage the surface 28 with the locking elements 2 extending through the apertures 58, the operator may release the lever 59 allowing the spring 46 to move the table 38 upwardly with the part i2. The part will engage the flanges id and cause upward movement of the part it with the flanges ll relative to the locking elements 2t forcing portions of the flanges into the recesses 30 where they will be locked against displacement and automatically positioned for the securing of the parts H and 82 together. Furthermore, the surface 28 of the body member 2t functions to position the part i2 whereby the adjacent edge thereof will be in a plane with the outermost surfaces of the flanges I! which also engage the surface 23 so that when the part I2 is secured to the flanges M of the part II, the article will be accurately formed. The accuracy in the formation of the article It is also assured through the positioning of the locking elements making it necessary for the operator to flex the sides of the part I l necessary for the mounting of the part on the locating elements should the sides of the part H be bent out of position prior to assembly with the part 12. The parts H and it are now in position to be secured together by solder or other means. The completed article may be readily removed from the apparatus by actuation of the lever which will release the completed article for downward movement free of the locking elements 2 3, the apparatus at the same time being in position to receive the parts of another article.

It is to be understood that the above described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open end with an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second part is formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end, the apparatus comprising a body member, spaced elements carried by the body member, receivable in the apertures of the said side flanges and recessed to receive portions of the flanges about the apertures, a table to support the second part, and means to move the table relative to the body member to force the second part firmly against the flange at the said open end and thereby move the first part relative to the body member to force the portions of the side flanges into locking engagement with the elements.

2. An apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open end with an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second part is formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end, the apparatus comprising a body member, spaced elements carried by the body member, receivable in the apertures of the said side flanges and recessed to receive portions of the flanges about the apertures, a table to support the second part, means to guide the table in a given path relative to the body member to accurately position the second part relative to the first part, and means to move the table relative to the body member to force the second part firmly against the flange at the said open end and thereby move the first part relative to the body member to force the portions of the side flanges into locking engagement with the elements.

3. An apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open end with an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second part-is formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end, the apparatus comprising a body member, spaced elements carried by the body member, receivable in the apertures of the said side flanges and recessed to receive portions of the flanges about the apertures, a table to support the second part, a reciprocable support for the table carried by the body member for movement in a given path relative to the spaced elements, and means normally urging the reciprocable support in a given direction to force the second part into close engagement with the flange at the said open end to move the first part into locking engagement with the spaced elements by forcing portions of the side flanges of the first part into the recesses thereof.

4. An apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open end with an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second part is formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end, the apparatus comprising a body member, spaced elements carried by the body member, receivable in the apertures of the said side flanges and recessed to receive portions of the flanges about the apertures, a table to support the second part, a reciprocable support for the table carried by the body member for movement in a given path relative to the spaced elements, means normally urging the reciprocable support in a given direction to force the second part into close engagement with the flange at the said open end to move the first part into locking engagement with the spaced elements by forcing portions of the side flanges of the first part into the recesses thereof, and means to actuate the reciprocable support against the force of the last named means to move the table relative to the body member to free the parts.

5. An apparatus for holding parts of an article to be secured together, the first part having an open end with an inwardly projecting flange and apertured side flanges, while the second part is formed to close the open end of the first part and engage the flange at the said open end, the apparatus comprising a body having parallel integral members with aligned apertures therein extending outwardly from one side of the body, spaced pinlike locking elements carried by the body and having tapered outer ends, to facilitate their entering the apertures of the side flanges, and grooves with arcuate bottom surfaces to receive and partially conform to portions of the side flanges about their apertures, a support for the body, a table to support the second part, a support for the table reciprocable in a guided path in the aligned apertures of the parallel body members relative to the locking elements, and means normally urging the reciprocable support in a given direction to force the second part into close engagement with the flange at the said open end to move the first part into locking engagement with the spaced elements by forcing portions of the side flanges of the first part into the recesses thereof.

HENRY P. WESTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 135,847 Redhefier Feb. 11, 1873 137,027 Redhefier Mar. 18, 1873 2,095,964 Blickman Oct, 19, 1937 

